12 Ways I Love You
by Hitana
Summary: Harry's Valentine's Day takes a strange turn with a series of notes left by a secret admirer. Harry/Draco fluff one-shot


A?N: Wow, I can't believe I'm actually writing a one-shot fanfic. I'm normally very long-winded, and one-shots aren't really my thing. Anyway, I apologize that this one sucks so badly, but it was written on a spur-of-the-moment whim two days before Valentine's Day, and I wanted it published on another site before the actual date. Hopefully you enjoy it just a litte, though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or its characters. If I did, I'd be one of the richest women in history, wouldn't I?

**12 Ways I Love You**

Harry awoke surprisingly early. A single ray of February sunlight was streaming through his dormitory window directly onto his face. He rubbed his eyes groggily and grabbed his glasses. Shoving them onto his face, he glanced at his watch. 7 o'clock. Being Saturday, Harry was fully prepared to lie back down, roll over, and fall back asleep. Until something caught his eye.

A small, gold envelope was resting on his bedside table, just an inch from where his glasses had been only second before. His name was written in a curly black script on the front, and the envelope was sealed with a red wax seal that he couldn't recognize.

He opened the letter curiously, carefully breaking the seal so that he could look at it later and search it for clues as to the mystery sender. He removed a letter written on the same gold paper as the envelope, and the curly black writing said simply:

_Harry—_

_Today is the day I show you my feelings for you. Throughout the day, you shall receive twelve clues that will lead you to me. Solve the clues by twilight, and a very special gift will await you. Fail, and you shall have to wait until next year, which may be far too late. I await your arrival at dusk._

_Your first clue is: _

Letters are our specialty  
Love letters, especially  
Find love with us  
Delivered without fuss.

_Good Luck._

Harry blinked at the note. What was that supposed to mean? Riddles had never been Harry's specialty. Yet this one seemed simple enough to crack. "Letters are our specialty," he repeated softly, not wanting to wake the other boys in the room. Neville was snoring loudly, and Seamus was talking quietly in his sleep. "Delivered without fuss."

He nearly slapped himself. Could it really be that easy? If all the clues would be this easy, he'd have this finished by dark with no problem. He smiled, grinning, then removed his glasses again, expecting to roll over and fall asleep again. However, the soft sounds of his fellow Gryffindors waking and making their way to the Common Room proved to be too much, and he was forced to give up his hopes of more rest.

Harry dressed quietly, then slowly descended the stairs to the Common Room. Several couples were sitting together by the fire, smiling. Someone had bewitched small paper hearts to float unendingly down from the high ceiling of the tower. Harry only had to think for a second before he realized what was going on. How could he have forgotten that it was Valentine's Day? Rather than loiter around, watching the happy couples, Harry figured he might as well get this little scavenger hunt over with. He was pretty sure he knew where the first clue was leading him, and he was actually excited to see who would go through all of this for him.

He took off through the portrait hole, causing the Fat Lady to call after him grumpily, demanding to know why he'd wakened her so early on a weekend. He paid her no heed and he took off down the corridor, heading towards the place where the school's letter carriers were kept. He entered the owlery quietly, and several of the owls recently returned from hunting or deliveries looked up at him with interest.

He spotted Hedwig easily enough. She was awake and staring at him intently. She swooped down, as though she'd been expecting him, and landed gracefully on his shoulder. A gold scroll was tied to her leg with a black ribbon. Harry quickly untied it, then let Hedwig return to her perch to sleep. He unfurled the letter and read:

_Owls are truly magical beasts  
Your next clue waits  
Where a giant's heart beats._

This one made Harry think for a moment. A giant's heart? Surely this wasn't going to lead him out into the wilderness? And no one that he knew of knew about Grawp besides Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, and himself.

"Hagrid?" Harry said to himself. Oh, man. Could this get any easier?

Harry left the owlery at a leisurely pace. He was in no hurry to finish this quest. He still had until around five o'clock that evening, which gave him more than nine hours.

It took Harry twenty minutes to get to Hagrid's, and the sun was now fairly high in the sky. He could see a tiny glint of gold attached to Hagrid's door as he approached. As he reached the door, he snatched the note, not wanting to wake Fang or Hagrid and get them involved in such an odd quest. He wandered off toward the Forbidden Forest for a ways, then read the letter to himself.

"'Many creatures we study can fly,/But it's easy for us, too,/To take some time out/And take to the sky.'"

Harry blinked. This one had him stumped. What could this clue point to? Harry could think of plenty of magical creatures that Hagrid had taught his classes about, and many of them could fly. But how could people fly? Harry looked up from the note, glancing off across the Hogwarts grounds. Then, he nearly slapped himself, and set off toward the Quidditch pitch.

The next clue was pinned to the door of the supply shed. Harry could hear the faint banging of the bludgers trying to escape their bonds in the ball chest behind the locked door.

His next clue read simply:

_To block a Bludger, you'll want a good Defense_

Harry read and reread the letter, but it seemed to make less and less sense each time he read it. Suddenly, this game got a lot harder. He read the letter again, and decided that his mind needed to mull this clue over. And while his brain rested, his stomach growled angrily for food. He set off toward the Great Hall, the first four clues stuffed in his pocket.

"Mystery letters? From a secret admirer?" Hermione sounded intrigued, almost excited, at the news. "That's so romantic!"

"Who are they from?"

"If he knew, it wouldn't be a _secret_ admirer, Ron."

"Well, he must have some clue. Can't you recognize the handwriting?"

"No. I don't have any clue who sent it. I wish I did, though."

"Well, I guess you'll just have to solve all the clues. What was the one you're stuck on, again?"

Harry pulled the note out of his pocket and handed it to Hermione. She read it carefully, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth.

"Why is the 'd' in 'defense' capitalized?"

"What?" Harry looked at the note again. Hermione was right. "Hmm. 'Defense'… Like Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"It's possible," Hermione confessed. "But I'm not sure. It seems pretty logical that the clue is leading you there, and all of the other clues have been pretty obvious so far."

"It's worth a try, then." Harry stood up, leaving the remainder of his breakfast uneaten, and set off toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

The room was empty. Harry's eyes swept over the room and landed on the seat that he usually occupied during classes. Sure enough, the next clue was sitting on the desk in front of his usual chair, looking completely innocent. He seized the letter and unfolded it.

_The Dark Arts have nothing  
On the darkest class at Hogwarts.  
The one held only  
After the lights have gone out._

It seemed that they were headed back to the simple clues. Had Harry simply over thought the bludger clue? He pondered this the entire way up through the castle to the astronomy tower.

The clue was attached to one of the telescopes this time.

_The stars glitter in the evening  
But the school's stars glitter, too  
Their names emblazoned forever  
On a plaque or two._

Harry sighed. This was almost too easy. What exactly was the point of all of this? If someone liked Harry, why didn't she come out and say it, rather than send him running around the whole school? Harry swore to himself that he'd never understand women as he rounded the corner and entered the trophy room. The note was pinned to a shelf just below a large shield engraved with the name of someone Harry had never heard of.

_I'm the only one of my kind to also carry a shield._

Had she run out of cute little rhymes? This was getting ridiculous. Thankfully this was the seventh clue. He was halfway done already, and it was still only eleven o'clock. But what else in the school had a shield?

"Hello, Harry."

Harry jumped at the sound. He whirled around and came face to face with one of the last people he wanted to see just then. "Umm… Hey, Luna. How's it going?"

"I suppose things are alright. How are you enjoying Shadow Walker Day?"

"What?"

"Shadow Walker Day. It's the day that Shadow Walker set free a captive family of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and started working on legislations to make the punishment for poaching the Snorkacks more severe."

"I see," Harry lied. "Well, my day's going just fine, how about you?"

"Oh, I'm having a wonderful day. My father's just sent me the traditional Snorkack head ornament. I forgot it up in my dormitory, though, otherwise I'd show you right now."

"Oh, it's okay, Luna. I'm in a bit of a hurry, actually. But out of curiosity, you wouldn't know what had a shield besides the trophy cases, would you?"

"Well, there's the suit of armor in the Transfiguration corridor, but that's all I can think of right now."

"Thanks. I'll see you later!"

"Goodbye, Harry. I'll show you the head ornament some other time!"

"Sounds great," Harry lied again, walking away form Luna as fast as he could without making it look like he wanted to put as much distance between them as possible.

He reached the Transfiguration hallway easily enough, and located the next note on the suit of armor's visor.

_A knight's sword can slash you through  
But with luck and a little bed rest  
In no time you'll be good as new._

Harry sighed again. These clues were so boring. Yet he couldn't help but feel more and more excited every time he found the next one. So he set off toward the Hospital Wing for some "bed rest" and the next clue.

It was nearing noon. Harry had about five hours to solve four more clues. Thus he told himself that he deserved a little rest. He abandoned his course to the Hospital Wing and headed back to Gryffindor tower.

"How's the hunt going?" Ron asked with a smirk.

"Fine. I'm almost done, and I have until nightfall to solve four clues. And since I figured eight out in less than five hours, I thought I deserved a break."

"So you know where your next clue is pointing you?" Hermione asked, poking her head out from behind a book.

"Yep. So I think I'll hang out around here for a couple hours."

And so he did. But after finishing an essay for Charms, and losing to Ron in four consecutive matches of Wizard Chess, he decided that it was time to start his search again

"Good luck," Hermione said, helping Ron pack up his chess set.

"Yeah, let me know if she's cute, and especially let me know if she has a sister."

Hermione's scoff was the last thing Harry heard before the portrait hole closed behind him and he started down toward the Hospital Wing again.

The clue was once again on the door to the infirmary.

_While you're on the mend  
The workload mounts high  
Time to get studying  
The due date is nigh._

Harry found himself slightly dreading this clue. It was leading him to the library, which meant that if the clue was hidden within the library itself, he would have to deal with Madam Pince. And he shuddered to think what would happen if the clue was attached to one of the librarian's precious books.

Nonetheless, he took off down the corridor toward the library. He took a deep breath as he rounded the corner just outside the library entrance, and let it out in a relieved sigh when he saw the glint of gold upon the door.

_You work up an appetite  
Pouring over book stacks  
Better ask a house-elf  
For a little snack_

Harry smiled at this one. He was getting a little hungry. Maybe a trip to the kitchens was just what he needed.

As he reached the familiar painting of a fruit bowl, Harry was relieved that the clue wasn't on the painting itself. He would actually be able to go inside and get something to eat while searching for his clue. He reached up and tickled the pear gently. It began to giggle, and the painting swung forward to admit him into the kitchens.

"Mister Harry Potter, sir!"

"Hello, Dobby."

"Oh, Dobby was hoping he would see you, sir. Dobby was given something to give to Harry Potter."

Harry held out his hand, expecting to receive the gold note. But instead, Dobby shoved a sweet bun into his palm. "Are you sure this was what you were supposed to give me?"

"Oh, yes, Harry Potter sir. Dobby was given specific instructions to give this to Harry Potter."

Harry stared at the bun for a moment, then carefully took a bite. It was delicious. He took another bite, but this time he withdrew more than sugar and dough. His clue had been baked in! He grabbed the note and read it, finishing the sweet bun at the same time.

_The sweet smell of success  
Is very nearly yours  
But first you need to brush up  
On your herb lore._

Harry looked at his watch as he swallowed the last of the confection. It was four-thirty. This was his eleventh clue, which meant he had half an hour to get to the greenhouses and find his last clue. He thanked Dobby quickly for the food, then ran out onto the chilly grounds. It took him ten minutes to find the note attached to the door of Greenhouse Two. He was out of breath, and his lungs burned in the freezing air.

_A Green House is where I normally reside  
But for tonight, near the lake is where I hide._

"Well, that's easy enough," Harry muttered, setting off once again across the frigid grounds. "The point of a riddle is not to give away where you are."

But the first part of the clue disturbed him slightly. A Green House? That couldn't mean—

He broke into a run toward the lake. The sun was setting, and he had to know the truth. He wouldn't like it, but he had to know.

He reached the bank of the lake just as the sun settled behind the horizon.

"So you did come."

Harry froze. That voice wasn't female…

"Malfoy?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry about the lame clues, but this was sort of spur-of-the-moment. I just got the idea last night. It took me until then to get the courage to tell you."

"So, you're my secret admirer?"

"I have been for a long time. I just couldn't bring myself to tell you. I love you, Harry. And I don't care who knows it."

"You… love me?" Harry blushed, though he had no idea why.

"Yes. I do." Draco came out of a shadow and met Harry face to face. "I love you, Harry Potter."

Harry was speechless. Unfortunately, his body wasn't. All the pent-up feelings he'd concealed about Malfoy for the past few years came out in one quick rush. He stepped forward and kissed Malfoy gently, then pulled away just as suddenly, his face burning red.

Malfoy had turned red, too. He grabbed Harry's hand and pressed it to his lips. The kiss traveled up Harry's arm, then to his neck, cheek, and finally came to a rest –a rather long rest- on Harry's lips.

When they finally pulled apart, Draco conjured a single gold rose and handed it to Harry. "Happy Valentine's Day, Harry."

"Happy Shadow Walker Day, Draco."

"What?"

"Never mind," Harry laughed, leaning in and kissing Draco once more.

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Yay! I actually made a one-shot! I suck at short stories! And this probably wasn't a huge exception. Maybe I should have done fewer clues, which would have made this a little shorter and a lot less cluttered. Plus then I could have made the clues better and more significant. But seeing as how this was meant to be published by Valentine's Day on another site, and I wrote it between 9 and 11:30 pm on February 12th, I had to make due.


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